Syrian parents are naming their children after the Russian
President as a sign of gratitude, while millions of students, including
Bashar Assad’s own children, are learning Russian, Syria’s Ambassador to
Moscow Riad Haddad said.

“Thanks
to the efforts of the Moscow embassy, and with the approval of
President Assad, Russian is the second language taught in Syrian
schools.

We have opened Russian faculties in all of the country’s
universities, while children receive tuition from the seventh grade,” said the official, addressing Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, the Federation Council, in Moscow.

Russian was first put on the curriculum in government-controlled schools in 2014, and has been prioritized since then.[...]Läs mer: